ephemeral narratives from a convicted gemini

Quarantine Day 18 : Joy Postponed, & 85 T-Shirts

Last day at work on Friday with the regular crew. One of the providers bought an ice cream cake for all of us. The MA who picked it up had them write “Corona” on it, with a virus symbol over it, because healthcare people are a little morbid but also very good at keeping up the humor in times of crisis. There was something bittersweet about the whole day. Many of us will not see each other for at least the next two months.

My apologies to the Zoom planner that night for my absence. I wasn’t up to socializing (wide-eyed gasp). The combination of work, saying goodbye to coworkers, and listening to the news left me in tears, making a choice between Klonopin and alcohol to make the pain in my chest go away. I was nobody’s good company. Spoiler: alcohol won.

And, to that end, I want everyone to know that it’s perfectly acceptable to sit and cry for hours once in a while. It’s going to be necessary to avoid the panic that inevitably creeps in with too much information.

Rainy day again today. Sabra gets another reprieve from a home-spa day and my other plan to bring back joy will have to wait one more day. I plan to post video, when Joy is released. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile back in our basement… Todd brought home a pinball machine from a friend who was moving and I scored 198,000+ in my first game. I smell a tournament coming. Me, Todd, and Opac.

To the above – Todd takes this all very seriously. The pickup was done with all the precautions of a medical protocol. He had to stop at Wawa for gas along the way (gloves and sanitizer and wipes all involved), and told me with a furrowed brow that dozens of people were getting gas and coming in and out of Wawa ignoring social distancing and behaving as if life was business as usual. I’d not seen Todd alarmed yet, until then.

Opac shared with me a conversation he had with a friend last night who was asking him to go fishing with him and another friend, and insisted they were all fine and would be since it was just their group hanging out and… ya’ll sitting down? There’s a vaccine coming in a couple months and once they all get it everything will be fine. Holy sweet Mary Jesus and Joseph! Thank God my kid finally gets it and he was absolutely incredulous that this friend was so naïve, although he might have used a different word to describe him.

Todd and I opened a bottle of 2016 Graffigna Pinot Grigio while cooking last night. It’s Argentinian but reminded me of Italian food and I highly recommend it. We made lasagna and it was killer. Also highly recommend.

I have been thinking about cleaning out my closet again – this next sweep being virtually everything I never wear, which is ….everything but my uniform. Too rash? Todd said he wanted to do the same, and said he can just wear a t-shirt to work in the basement every day. Great idea! I said. And then told him he can wear every one of his 85 t-shirts and that I want to see a different one every day for the next 85 days. This is going to be fun.

*******

Today’s stats:

Mental Health: 7

Physical Health: 8 (-1 for waking up at 3 am with my trigger finger curled and locked, and -1 for lower back pain/radiating leg pain)

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One thought on “Quarantine Day 18 : Joy Postponed, & 85 T-Shirts”

I feel you on the mental health stuff. I took Friday off as a mental health day having spent some late night hours on Thursday sobbing. I am much better, but I really needed that time to grieve. Stay strong – I love your creative ideas on adding spots of joy and fun in your day. Now I am off to meal prep and listen to some upbeat music and stories.

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